NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Should anyone in Nashville experience a power outage during the winter storm expected to hit early Friday morning, crews with Nashville Electric Service (NES) are ready to get power restored as soon as possible, the electric provider said.
“NES is monitoring weather forecasts for Middle Tennessee in anticipation of the snow expected on Friday leading into the weekend,” NES shared in a statement to News 2. “Our crews are fully staffed to respond to power outages resulting from storms and severe weather.”
According to NES, snow can build up on power lines and trees near power lines. Once they become heavy enough, the lines and/or branches can snap under the pressure and take down the trees. If trees or branches fall into power lines, poles may also come down, and those take more time to replace, NES said.
“Should outages occur, customers should report it by calling 615-736-6900, texting “OUT” to 637797 using the phone number associated with their account, logging into www.NESPower.com, or reporting it directly on our outage map at www.nespower.com/outages. Most importantly, if you see a downed power line, assume it’s live, stay away and call 9-1-1 immediately,” NES said in the statement.
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NES also offered the following tips to help customers prepare for the severe weather:
- Charge all mobile devices well in advance of a potential outage.
- Have one or more backup portable batteries in case your mobile devices run out of charge.
- Access a reliable weather app or website to ensure you have the latest details for approaching weather.
- Prepare a home emergency kit that contains non-spoiling pre-packaged food, bottled water, backup batteries for essential equipment and a flashlight.
- Construct an emergency preparedness plan with family members in case of disastrous conditions.
- Customers on life-supporting equipment powered by electricity can apply for NES’ Critical Referral program long before severe weather strikes. (Customers must meet specific qualifications for inclusion in the program and NES requires application submissions well in advance of outages.)
Don’t forget to take the power and reliability of the WKRN Weather Authority with you at all times by downloading the News 2 Storm Tracker app.
